For electric motors, especially PMDC motors, with 4 or more stator poles, it is usual to have the same number of brushes as stator poles, cooperating with a commutator to energize the rotor windings in the correct sequence. The brushes are divided into two groups with all the brushes within each group being electrically connected together. Some recent improvements in motor design use equalizers or electrical connections to join together various segments of the commutator, such as diametrically opposed segments for a four pole motor, to reduce the number of brush sets. However, this means that the remaining brushes must carry greater current and this is not always possible or desirable. To avoid using equalizers, the brushes are electrically connected by using lead wires which are connected together outside of the motor. This is considered unsightly and clumsy. One solution has been to insert mold strips of metal into the card with supports the brush assemblies and connect the strips to the motor terminals or even form the motor terminals from the strips, with the brush assemblies being connected, usually by the brush shunts, to the appropriate metal strip. This is a good solution but requires a relatively large brush card and an expensive insert molding process.
Hence there is a desire for a simple arrangement for connecting associated brush assemblies in a multi-pole motor, especially a four pole PMDC motor.